WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
S/C/W/343 
17 October 2011 
 (11-5139) 
Council for Trade in Services  
  
 
- DRAFT -  
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES 
TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL (2011) 
  
1. Since its last report to the General Council, the Council for Trade in Services held seven 
formal meetings, on 17 November 2010, 18 November 2010, 7 March 2011, 9 March 2011, 
2 May 2011, 24 June 2011 and 30 September 2011.
1  During this period, the Council addressed the 
following matters. 
I. NOTIFICATIONS MADE TO THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO GATS 
ARTICLES III:3 AND V:7 
2. At its meetings held on 18 November 2010 , 7 March, 24 June and 30 September 2011 the 
Council for Trade in Services took not e of the following notifications: 
(a) Notifications pursuant to Article III:3 of the GATS 
 
United States S/C/N/569 
Japan S/C/N/571 Colombia S/C/N/572-576 Kingdom of Bahrain S/C/N/579 Togo S/C/N/580 to 593 
Switzerland S/C/N/596-597 
 (b) Notifications pursuant to Article V:7 of the GATS  
Colombia and Mexico S/C/N/563 India S/C/N/570 
China and Chile S/C/N/577 
China and Hong Kong, China  S/C/N/264/Add.4 China and Macao, China S/C/N/265/Add.4 Hong Kong, China and New Zealand  S/C/N/578 Republic of Korea and Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,  S/C/N/559/Add.1 and 
 Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia,   S/C/N/560/Add.1 
 Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam 
European Union and Republic of Korea  S/C/N/594 Guatemala and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, S/C/N/595  Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu  
Peru and Republic of Korea  S/C/N/598 
India and Malaysia S/C/N/599 
                                                      
1 Reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/C/M/101 to 107, and should be read in 
conjunction with this report. S/C/W/343 
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  Colombia, Liechtenstein and Switzerland S/C/N/600 
India and Japan S/C/N/601  
II. COMPLIANCE WITH GATS NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 
3. The Council for Trade in Services addressed the issue of compliance with GATS notification 
requirements at its November 2010 and March 2011 meetings.   
4. At the meeting held on 18 November, the de legation of Switzerland reported that the open-
ended, informal group it had formed to exchange e xperiences with regard to notifications had met the 
previous day.   
5. At the March 2011 meeting, the Council decided, given the particular intensity of WTO work 
at that juncture, to revert to this issue at a later time.  
III. SECTORAL AND MODAL DISCUSSIONS 
6. The Council for Trade in Services continued with its discussions on a number of services 
sectors and modes of supply, on the basis of a series of Background Notes the Secretariat had been tasked to produce addressing salient re gulatory and economic developments.   
7. At its meeting held on 18 November 2010, th e Council considered the Background Notes on 
"Road freight transport services" (S/C/W/324, an d Corrigendum 1) and "Distribution services" 
(S/C/W/326). 
8. At the meeting held on 7 March 2011, the C ouncil addressed the last two Background Notes 
prepared by the Secretariat, dealing with "Engi neering services" (S/C/W/324) and "A review of 
statistics on trade flows in services" (S/C/W/329 and Addendum 1). 
9. At that meeting, the delegation of Switzerland suggested that an additional Note could be 
produced, on the role of Small and Medium-sized En terprises (SMEs) in services trade.  In response 
to the Swiss proposal, the Secretariat indicated th at it would be pleased to undertake some work on 
the issue, but would need to reflect furt her on what it could usefully prepare.   
10. At the meeting held on 2 May, and again at the following meeting in June, a representative of 
the Secretariat provided an overview of the limited in formation that it had been able to gather on the 
role of SMEs in services trade.  It thus solicited additional inputs from Members, in order to complement its own research and be in a positio n to produce a meaningful piece of work.   
11. On 20 September, the delegation of Switzerland submitted a communication titled "The 
Services Sector, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Employment: the Case of Switzerland"(S/C/W/340).  The Council addressed the Sw iss submission at its 30 September meeting, 
when several other Members also shared inform ation on the role of SMEs in their economies. 
IV. THIRD REVIEW OF MFN EXEMPTIONS – ORGANISATION OF WORK 
12. The Council held two meetings dedicated to the third review of Article II (MFN) exemptions, 
on 17 November 2010 and 9 March 2010.  It then pur sued its discussion under the review as an item 
on the Council's agenda, rather than in a dedicated session, on 2 May 2011.   
13. For the purpose of the review, the Secretariat had circulated three background documents:  
two updated compilations of all MFN exemptions lis ted, one organised by sector (JOB/SERV/29),  S/C/W/343 
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  and one organised by Member (JOB/SERV/30), and a document providing updated statistical 
information on MFN exemptions (JOB/SERV/31).   
14. At the November meeting, the Council addressed  the MFN exemptions inscribed for:  all 
sectors; business services; communication services; construction and related engineering services; and distribution services.  A number of delegations had submitted questions in wri ting in advance of the 
meeting, namely:  China (in document S/C/W/321) ; Hong Kong, China and Japan (S/C/W/322); Chile 
(S/C/W/323 and Corr.1); and the Republic of Korea (S/C/W/325 and Corr.1).  
15. In March 2011, the Council examined the rema ining exemptions, i.e. those listed for:  
educational services; financial services; health-rela ted and social services; tourism and travel-related 
services; recreational, cultural and sporting services;  and transport services.  A few delegations had 
submitted written questions for the purpose of th e meeting, namely Switzerland (in document 
S/C/W/330), Hong Kong, China (S/C/W/331) and Norway (S/C/W/336).   
16. Pursuant to the mandate in paragraph 4(b) of the relevant GATS Annex, that the Council 
determine "the date of any further review", at th e meeting held on 2 May the Council agreed to close 
the third review and hold its next review of Artic le II (MFN) exemptions no later than 2016.   
V. RE-OPENING OF THE FIFTH PROTOCOL FOR ACCEPTANCE BY THE 
PHILIPPINES 
17. Following the request of the Philippines contai ned in document S/C/W/332, at its meeting on 
7 March 2011 the Council decided to reopen the Fifth Protocol  to the GATS, relating to financial 
services, for acceptance by the Philip pines.  The relevant decision is  contained in document S/L/382. 
VI. DEDICATED DISCUSSION ON INTERNATIONAL MOBILE ROAMING 
18. At the Council meeting held in March, the de legations of Australia, Norway and the United 
States submitted a communication (in document S/C/W/335) containing a proposal for a workshop on international mobile roaming (IMR) and the app licability of the GATS.  Though Members expressed 
considerable support for and interest in the propos ed workshop, a few questions were raised with 
regard to its timing and agenda. 
19. Following informal consultations and further discussions at the May meeting, the Council 
agreed that it would hold a dedicated discussion on  IMR, and tasked the Secretariat to produce a 
Background Note on the issue.  Accordingly, the S ecretariat prepared the Note titled "International 
Mobile Roaming:  Possible Implications for GA TS" (contained in JOB/SERV/77, subsequently re-
issued as a formal document with the symbol S/C/W/337).   
20. The Council held a first dedicated discussion on IMR at its June meeting, using the 
Secretariat Note as a basis.  At its September mee ting, the Council also addressed an informal Note on 
the issue by the International Telecommunicati on Union, contained in document JOB/SERV/85. 
VII. WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 
21. The Work Programme on Electronic Commerce was placed on the Council's agenda in May 
at the request of the delegation of the United St ates.  Members expressed wide support for resuming 
deliberations under the Work Programme and agreed that, as an initial background to the discussion, 
the Secretariat would prepare a compilation of elements related to the electronic supply of services drawn from the Background Notes that the Secretariat had issued on a number of sectors, modes of supply, and statistics on trade flows in services.   S/C/W/343 
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  22. The Secretariat Note (contained in document  JOB/SERV/78 and Corrigendum 1), was first 
addressed at the June meeting.  On that occasion,  Members agreed that, in light of the mandate 
contained in the Ministerial Decision on the E- commerce Work Programme of December 2009, the 
Chairman would produce, under his own responsibili ty, a Chairman's Report to the General Council 
of the discussions the Council for Trade in Servi ces had had under the Work Programme.  The Report 
is contained in document S/ C/35, dated 30 June 2011. 
23. At its September meeting, the Council addressed two new documents:  a communication from 
the European Union and the United States (document S/C/W/338) titled "Contribution to the Work 
Programme on Electronic Commerce"; and a co mmunication from the United States (document 
S/C/W/339) titled "Work Program on Electronic Commerce: Ensuring that trade rules support innovative advances in computer applications and platforms, such as mobile applications and the 
provision of cloud computing services".
 
VIII.  WORK OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES 
24. The activities of the subsidiary bodies in 2011 ar e reflected in their r espective reports, which 
are annexed to this report, as follows:  
 Annex  I Report of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services (S/FIN/**) 
 Annex  II Report of the Committee on Specific Commitments (S/CSC/**)  Annex  III Report of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation (S/WPDR/**) 
 Annex  IV Report of the Working Party on GATS Rules (S/WPGR/**) 
  
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